Manufacturing method of three-dimensional heat conducting structure

ABSTRACT

A manufacturing method of a three-dimensional heat conducting structure, comprising: providing a vapor chamber having at least one insert hole; providing a heat pipe having an open end, and inserting the open end into the insert hole; providing a support ring, and sheathing the support ring on either the heat pipe or the vapor chamber, wherein the supporting ring extends along an axial direction of the heat pipe and has a contact surface facing toward an outer surface of the vapor chamber, and the contact surface is in contact with the outer surface of the vapor chamber; and providing a soldering means, and applying the soldering means between the support ring and the heat pipe to combine the heat pipe onto the vapor chamber.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a divisional patent application of U.S. application Ser. No.14/794,028 filed Jul. 8, 2015, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) on patent application No(s). 104116596 filed in Taiwan, R.O.C. onMay 25, 2015, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated byreference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a heat conducting device, and moreparticularly to a three-dimensional heat conducting structure and itsmanufacturing method.

BACKGROUND

Vapor chamber or heat pipe is a high-performance heat conducting devicefor conducting a local heat source to other places. With the features ofhigh thermal conductivity, light weight, simple structure, andmulti-function, the vapor chamber and heat pipe can conduct a largequantity of heat without consuming electric power, so that the vaporchamber and heat pipe have been used extensively in the market ofhigh-performance cooling components such as the server, communication,high-end graphic card, and high-efficiency LED cooling components.

In a conventional heat conducting structure, the heat pipe is combinedto the vapor chamber to improve the heat conduction speed. In theaforementioned heat conducting structure, the heat pipe and the vaporchamber are combined by means of soldering. However, the melted soldermay overflow to the desired combining position as well as otherpositions such as a surface of the vapor chamber, and thus affecting thecombining effect of the soldering, resulting in an appearance defect,and reducing the product yield.

SUMMARY

Therefore, it is a primary objective of the present invention to providea three-dimensional heat conducting structure and its manufacturingmethod to prevent the solder from overflowing to the surface of thevapor chamber, so as to improve the product yield.

To achieve the aforementioned and other objectives, the presentinvention provides a three-dimensional heat conducting structure,comprising a vapor chamber, at least one heat pipe, at least one supportring, and a solder. The vapor chamber comprises a casing, and at leastone insert hole formed on a side of the casing and communicated with thecasing; the heat pipe has an open end inserted into the insert hole andcommunicated to the interior of the casing; the support ring is sheathedon a joint position of the heat pipe and the vapor chamber, and a sideof the support ring is attached onto an outer surface of the vaporchamber; and the solder is disposed between the support ring and theheat pipe and provided for combining the heatpipe onto the vaporchamber.

To achieve the aforementioned and other objectives, the presentinvention further provides a manufacturing method of a three-dimensionalheat conducting structure, and the manufacturing method comprises thesteps of: (a) providing a vapor chamber having at least one insert hole;(b) providing a heat pipe having an open end, and inserting the open endinto the insert hole; (c) providing a support ring, and sheathing thesupport ring on a joint position of the heat pipe and the vapor chamber;and (d) providing a soldering means, and applying the soldering meansbetween the support ring and the heat pipe to combine the heat pipe ontothe vapor chamber.

Compared with the prior art, the three-dimensional heat conductingstructure of the present invention has the support ring sheathed on thejoint position of the heat pipe and the vapor chamber and provided forpreventing the solder from overflowing to the surface of the vaporchamber to improve the product yield. Further, the support ring providesa supporting force to the combination of the heat pipe and the vaporchamber, so that the heat pipe is combined onto the vapor chamber moresecurely by the solder to enhance the practicality of the presentinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure will become better understood from the detaileddescription given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which aregiven by way of illustration only and thus are not intending to limitthe present disclosure and wherein:

FIG. 1 is flow chart of a manufacturing method of a three-dimensionalheat conducting structure of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a three-dimensional heat conductingstructure of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a three-dimensional heat conductingstructure of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a three-dimensional heat conductingstructure in accordance with a first preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a three-dimensional heat conductingstructure in accordance with a second preferred embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a three-dimensional heat conductingstructure in accordance with a third preferred embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The technical contents of the present invention will become apparentwith the detailed description of preferred embodiments accompanied withthe illustration of related drawings as follows.

With reference to FIGS. 1 to 4 for a manufacturing flow chart, anexploded view, a perspective view and a cross-sectional view of athree-dimensional heat conducting structure of the present inventionrespectively, the manufacturing method of a three-dimensional heatconducting structure comprises the steps of: providing a vapor chamber10 having at least one insert hole 12 (Step a); providing a heat pipe 20having an open end 21, and inserting the open end 21 into the inserthole 12 (Step b); providing a support ring 30, and sheathing the supportring 30 on a joint position of the heat pipe 20 and the vapor chamber 10(Step c); and providing a soldering means, and applying the solderingmeans between the support ring 30 and the heat pipe 20 for combining theheat pipe 20 onto the vapor chamber 10.

With reference to FIG. 2 for a three-dimensional heat conductingstructure 1 of the present invention, the three-dimensional heatconducting structure 1 comprises a vapor chamber 10, at least one heatpipe 20, a support ring 30, and a solder 40. The support ring 30 issheathed on the heat pipe 20 and disposed at a joint position of theheat pipe 20 and the vapor chamber 10, and the heat pipe 20 is combinedto the vapor chamber 10 by the solder 40, and the detailed structurewill be described later.

The vapor chamber 10 includes a casing 11, and at least one insert hole12 formed on a side of the casing 11 and communicated with the interiorof the casing 11. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention,the vapor chamber 10 further includes a capillary structure 14 and aworking fluid (not shown in the figure) disposed at the interior of thecasing 11.

The heat pipe 20 is a hollow metal pipe capable of conducting heatquickly and uniformly without requiring electric power supply. The heatpipe 20 has an open end 21, and the open end 21 is inserted into theinsert hole 12 and communicated with the interior of the casing 11. Inpractice, the number of insert holes 12 of the vapor chamber 10 is equalto the number of heat pipes 20. In this embodiment, the heat pipe 20includes a cover 22 and a capillary layer 23. The capillary layer 23 islocated inside the cover 22, and the cover 22 has the open end 21. Whenthe heat pipe 20 is inserted into the insert hole 12, both the cover 22and the capillary layer 23 are surrounded by the insert hole 12.

In addition, the support ring 30 is a ring made of metal (such ascopper), or heat resistant non-metal (such as ceramic). The support ring30 is sheathed on a joint position of the heat pipe 20 and the vaporchamber 10, and a side of the support ring 30 is attached onto an outersurface of the vapor chamber 10.

In FIG. 3, after the support ring 30 is sheathed on the outer side ofthe heat pipe 20, the solder 40 is placed and soldered between thesupport ring 30 and the heat pipe 20 to combine the heat pipe 20 ontothe vapor chamber 10 by the solder 40, and the support ring 30 isprovided for preventing the solder 40 from overflowing to a surface ofthe vapor chamber 10 to improve the product yield. It is noteworthy thatthe present invention is not limited to the use of the solder 40 only,but other means such as a solder ring, a solder strip, a solder, or asolder paste may be used instead.

Preferably, in Step (a), the vapor chamber 10 has a rim 13 formed aroundthe periphery of the insert hole 12 and protruded from an outer surfaceof the vapor chamber 10 outer surface, and an inner wall surface of therim 13 is attached to an outer surface of the heat pipe 20. In Step (b),an inner wall surface of the support ring 30 is attached on an outerwall surface of the rim 13. The rim 13 is provided for giving a betterpositioning effect of inserting the heat pipe 20 into the insert hole 12in order to have a better combination of the heat pipe 20 and the vaporchamber 10, so as to improve the yield of the three-dimensional heatconducting structure 1.

It is noteworthy that the solder is applied after the support ring 30 issheathed on the outer side of the heat pipe 20, and the support ring 30provides a supporting force for the combination of the heat pipe 20 andthe vapor chamber 10, so that the heatpipe 20 is combined onto the vaporchamber 10 securely by the solder 40.

With reference to FIG. 5 for a cross-sectional view of athree-dimensional heat conducting structure 1 a in accordance with asecond preferred embodiment of the present invention, this preferredembodiment is substantially the same as the first preferred embodiment,and the three-dimensional heat conducting structure 1 a comprises avapor chamber 10 a, at least one heat pipe 20 a, a support ring 30 a anda solder 40 a. The vapor chamber 10 a has an insert hole 12 a, and anend of the heatpipe 20 a is inserted into the insert hole 12 a. Inaddition, the support ring 30 a is sheathed on the heat pipe 20 a anddisposed at a joint position of the heat pipe 20 a and the vapor chamber10 a. In addition, the heat pipe 20 a is combined onto the vapor chamber10 a by the solder 40 a.

The difference between this preferred embodiment and the first preferredembodiment resides on that the vapor chamber 10 a does not have any rimformed around the periphery of the insert hole 12, and the support ring30 a is sheathed on the heat pipe 20 a directly. In other words, theinner wall surface of the support ring 30 a is attached on the externalperipheral surface of the heat pipe 20 a. Similarly, the solder 40 a isdisposed between the support ring 30 a and the heat pipe 20 a, and theheat pipe 20 a is combined to the vapor chamber 10 a by the solder 40 a.

It is noteworthy that the support ring 30 a of this preferred embodimentis unlike the rim structure of the vapor chamber 10 a and the differenceresides on that the support ring 30 a is not formed directly from thevapor chamber 10 a, so that the shape and size of the support ring 30 amay be designed or changed according to the actual using requirements.The support ring 30 is provided for giving a better supporting force forthe combination of the heat pipe 20 a and the vapor chamber 10 a. Inaddition, the support ring 30 a is provided for preventing the solder 40a from overflowing to the surface of the vapor chamber 10 a to provide abetter combining effect.

With reference to FIG. 6 for a cross-sectional view of athree-dimensional heat conducting structure 1 b in accordance with athird preferred embodiment of the present invention, this preferredembodiment is substantially the same as the first preferred embodiment,and the three-dimensional heat conducting structure 1 b comprises avapor chamber 10 b, at least one heat pipe 20 b, a support ring 30 b,and a solder 40 b. The vapor chamber 10 b has an insert hole 12 b, andan end of the heatpipe 20 b is inserted into the insert hole 12 b. Inaddition, the support ring 30 b is sheathed on the heat pipe 20 b anddisposed at a joint position between the heat pipe 20 b and the vaporchamber 10 b, and the heat pipe 20 b is combined to the vapor chamber 10b by the solder 40 b.

The difference between this preferred embodiment and the first preferredembodiment resides on that the support ring 30 b has a chamfer 31 bdisposed on a side adjacent to the heat pipe 20 b, so that the solder 40b stays between the chamfer 31 b and the outer surface of the heat pipe20 b without overflowing to the surface of the vapor chamber 10 b, so asto provide a better combining effect.

While the invention has been described by means of specific embodiments,numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by thoseskilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of theinvention set forth in the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A manufacturing method of a three-dimensionalheat conducting structure, comprising: Step (a) providing a vaporchamber having at least one insert hole; Step (b) providing a heat pipehaving an open end, and inserting the open end into the insert hole;Step (c) providing a support ring, and sheathing the support ring oneither the heat pipe or the vapor chamber, wherein the supporting ringextends along an axial direction of the heat pipe and has a contactsurface facing toward an outer surface of the vapor chamber, and thecontact surface is in contact with the outer surface of the vaporchamber; and Step (d) providing a soldering means, and applying thesoldering means between the support ring and the heat pipe to combinethe heat pipe onto the vapor chamber.
 2. The manufacturing method of athree-dimensional heat conducting structure as claimed in claim 1,wherein in Step (a), the vapor chamber has a rim formed around theperiphery of the insert hole and protruded from the outer surface of thevapor chamber.
 3. The manufacturing method of a three-dimensional heatconducting structure as claimed in claim 2, wherein in Step (c), thesupport ring is sheathed on the rim of the vapor chamber, and an innerwall surface of the support ring is in contact with an outer wallsurface of the rim.
 4. The manufacturing method of a three-dimensionalheat conducting structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein in Step (c),the support ring has a chamfer disposed on a side adjacent to the heatpipe.
 5. The manufacturing method of a three-dimensional heat conductingstructure as claimed in claim 4, wherein in Step (d), the solderingmeans includes a solder, and the solder stays between the chamfer and anouter surface of the heat pipe without overflowing to a surface of thevapor chamber.